'I said that there could be no answer.' Nevertheless she waited, motionless.
'But there is! The answer is that I will free you from the slavery to which you have sold your soul! The answer is, I love you, and it is yourself I love, the woman you are now, not the memory of your shadow from long ago, but you, you, your very self!'
Half out of his mind, he tried to seize her by the arm, to draw her to him; but he only caught her sleeve, and dropped it as she sprang back with a lightness and maiden grace that almost drove him mad. She drew herself up, offended and hurt.
'Remember what I am, and where you are!'
Giovanni's manner changed so suddenly that she would have been suspicious, if she had not been too much disturbed to reason. She fancied that she still controlled him.
'You are right,' he said; 'I beg your pardon. Only tell me when I may see you again.'
'Not for a long time—not till you can give me your word that you will control yourself. Till then, we must say good-bye.'
He was so quiet, all at once, that it was easier to say the word than she had expected.
'No,' he answered, 'not good-bye, for even if you will not see me, I shall be near you.'
'Near? Where?'